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Objective: Global disasters' rising toll on participation in health-promoting activities (HPA) has been observed, especially for mothers with young children, who may face unique challenges postdisaster. This brief report examined perceived changes in participation in HPA and its supportive factors as perceived by mothers, following a terrorist attack disaster., Method: Two hundred one mothers (age range = 20-58) of young children up to 12 years completed an online survey including sociodemographic data, exposure to disaster characteristics, participation in HPA, and social support measures. They also responded to an open-ended question regarding factors supporting their health needs and ability to participate in daily activities 1 month postdisaster., Results: Most of the mothers who completed the survey reported decreased participation in HPA postdisaster. Disaster exposure correlated with perceived reductions in frequency and competence of participation. Social support moderated the effect of disaster exposure on reduced competence. Descriptive analysis revealed four themes: consequences of disaster exposure, external resources, life-role overload, and adaptive thinking to the situation., Conclusions: Mothers with young children face postdisaster challenges impacting their HPA. Social support may serve as a protective factor, mitigating negative consequences of disaster exposure on perceived competence in participation. Results emphasize that interventions targeting maternal health postdisasters, highlighting the importance of social support, are imperative. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Background. Adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) have an increased risk of participation limitations. Occupational therapy faces knowledge-to-practice gaps among this population. Purpose. To examine the effectiveness of a continuing-education program for occupational therapists working with adolescents with NDDs. Methods. The study used a mixed-method design, including pre-post comparisons of competence and sense of self-efficacy of occupational therapists to work with adolescents with NDDs. Interviews regarding the program's perceived contribution to practice were conducted. Results. Post-program results showed significantly ( p  < .001) higher professional competence and self-efficacy for interventions and evaluation skills with NDD's adolescents and transition programs as well as higher knowledge about adolescence and NDDs characteristics. Contrary, there was no change in competence and self-efficacy regarding client-centred interventions with adolescents. Program participants increased their professional confidence and incorporated evidence-based methods into routine practice. Conclusions and Implications. The continuing-education program that was examined expanded the occupational therapy practitioner's knowledge and professional skills, resulting in a change in their capacity to practice with adolescents narrowing the knowledge-to-practice gap. Future studies involving the client perspective, regarding their participation may validate and support continuing-education program for occupational therapists.

Introduction: Participation in occupations is considered essential for individuals' health and wellbeing. Participation is a multidimensional construct that encompasses objective and subjective dimensions that transform over the course of life. Nonetheless, there is a lack of comprehensive measures that examine young adults' participation in age-appropriate activities. Therefore, we developed the Young Adults' Daily Participation Scale (YADAPS) and aimed to explore its psychometric properties., Methods: In Study 1, the content validity of the YADAPS was established based on nine experts. Its internal consistency, criterion, convergent, and construct validity were explored among 115 typical young adults (21-35 years). Using a different sample, Study 2 examined YADAPS discriminant validity among 33 young adults with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and 52 typical peers., Consumer and Community Involvement: No consumer and community involvement was included in these studies., Results: The relevance of YADAPS items was sufficient. Internal consistency was acceptable to excellent in most scales (.74 ≤ α ≤ .89). Criterion validity was supported by correlations between the subjective participation scales and a wellbeing measure. Convergent validity was found for all scales. No gender effect was observed (p ≥ .05). However, significant differences (p ≤ .05) were found between individuals with and without DCD., Conclusions: The YADAPS appears to be a promising measure of objective and subjective dimensions of participation in young adults. The results support the importance of examining various participation dimensions, including occupational experience. Thus, it may be used for clinical purposes among young adults as well as for occupational science research, to broaden our understanding on the interplay between participation dimensions in various life situations in young adulthood. However, further research is needed on psychometric properties, the most suited scoring method, and to consolidate their robustness among diverse populations of young adults., Plain Language Summary: Participation, or how one engages in daily life activities, greatly affects wellbeing. The activities in one's routine change over the lifespan, in accordance with one's developmental phase. Existing assessments of participation have limitations, like not considering young adults' concerns or only focussing on certain aspects of participation. By focussing on both the objective-observable and subjective-experiential aspects of participation, the Young Adults' Daily Participation Scale (YADAPS) strives to be a comprehensive assessment tool designed specifically for reflecting activities relevant in young adulthood. This manuscript provides preliminary validity and reliability for the YADAPS, a new questionnaire that assesses objective and subjective aspects of participation in activities relevant for individuals in young adulthood. Furthermore, the questionnaire is able to distinguish between young adults with and without participation difficulties; therefore, it is suitable for research and clinical use., (© 2024 The Author(s). Australian Occupational Therapy Journal published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Occupational Therapy Australia.)

Purpose: Participation difficulties among adults with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) have been documented. However, little attention has been given to the subjective aspects of participation, also called occupational experience, including feeling during engagement in activities and their meaning. This study aimed to explore the occupational experience of young adults with DCD., Materials and Methods: Informed by the phenomenological approach, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 10 young adults with DCD., Findings: Three themes emerged: (1) Complexity of occupational experience; describes the motives for participation, with variations in experience across activities and individuals. Participants engage in activities that provide them with pleasure and fulfillment, while other activities require constant effort and cause stress and shame; (2) The role of internal factors; illustrates the influence of poor motor and organizational/planning skills, self-acceptance; and utilizing strategies on the participants' occupational experience; and (3) The role of the social environment; reveals the participants' dual perception of their environment - as a source of criticism as well as a source of support., Conclusions: Individuals with DCD may benefit from intervention during young adulthood to enhance their well-being. The interventions should target their subjective occupational experiences in addition to their objective performance difficulties, by enhancing their psycho-social resources.

This study aimed to examine health-related quality of life of adolescents before and during the COVID-19 outbreak, and its relationship to resilience embodied in hope and a sense of coherence. Typically developed adolescents between the ages of 13 to 18 participated in the study; 84 were recruited before the pandemic outbreak and 64 in March to April 2020 during the worldwide outbreak. The participants completed the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory, Sense of Coherence Scale, and Children’s Hope Scale. During the outbreak, adolescents reported higher physical health-related quality of life scores (F(1146) = 3.710, p < 0.05, η² = 0.027) and lower school health-related quality of life scores (F(1146) = 5.748, p < 0.05, η2 = 0.028), compared to adolescents during the pre-outbreak period. Furthermore, adolescents during the outbreak reported a significantly (p < 0.05) higher sense of coherence but no difference in levels of hope. Finally, the results of multiple linear regression indicated that resilience factors (hope and sense of coherence) contributed to the prediction of health-related quality of life, independent of socio-demographic variables. Hope and a sense of coherence were both found to positively impact one core aspect of health, which highlights the importance of addressing resilience factors in educational and therapeutic settings for adolescents thus that they are better able to adapt to stressful events such as pandemics.

Aim: A high prevalence of co-occurring Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) has been noted in the population of children with global developmental delays (GDD). The presence of developmental disabilities in general, and DCD in particular, constitute a risk factor for difficulties in social skills. However, to the best of our knowledge, no studies, have examined the unique contribution of DCD to social skills, over and above the effect of other general developmental impairments. The aim of this study was to compare the social skills of kindergarten children with Global Developmental Delay, with and without DCD., Methods: Participants included 26 kindergarten children with Global Developmental Delay and DCD (Mage = 4.92, 61 % boys), and 26 children with Global Developmental Delay without DCD (Mage = 5.09, 69.25 % boys). All participants' parents and kindergarten teachers completed the Social Skills Improvement System Questionnaire (SSIS)., Results: Children with GDD only performed significantly better on social skills compared to children with GDD and DCD. Parents in general reported better social skills and less behavioral problems compared to kindergarten teachers., Conclusions: The findings contribute to the accumulating body of knowledge regarding social abilities of children with developmental disabilities and present new information as to the unique effect of DCD in this domain. Routine evaluation of social skills should be conducted among children with GDD and DCD, taking into account the negative influence that motor dysfunction has in this domain. Furthermore, children's social performance in different environments needs to be considered by relating to both parents and kindergarten teachers' perspective. Subsequent intervention programs should then address the unique profile of this population., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)